Are you suffering from zoom fatigue? You are not alone While everyone is at home and working these days, we are all using Zoom and other best video chat apps to attend meetings, school classes, family reunions and fun times

Zoom has experienced significant growth since social distancing and quarantine regulations were enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic The company recently announced that daily Zoom meeting attendance has surpassed 300 million participants, a 50% increase since early April Yes, many of us use video conferencing services, but many of us are getting tired of Zoom, Zoom, Zoom and Zooming all day, every day, every week

"Zoom fatigue" has become a hot topic, with the Wall Street Journal, BBC, and National Geographic reporting on the trend Video call fatigue is also caused by Facetime, Skype, Google Hangouts, and other services

"We are experiencing nonverbal overload," Jeremy Bayrenson, founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, recently wrote in a column about Zoom fatigue

Baylenson explains that video chat has upended the norms of social interaction: "Behaviors normally reserved for intimate relationships, such as long periods of direct eye contact or close face-to-face contact, have suddenly become ways of interacting with casual acquaintances, colleagues, and even strangers became a way to interact with an acquaintance, colleague, or even a stranger

For example, let's say you are meeting with eight people in an office conference room You are not looking directly at everyone at the same time With Zoom, you are looking directly at the other eight people at all times throughout the meeting Needless to say, you will be staring at yourself, which can cause an uneasy inner dialogue, with messy hair, irritated faces resting, and dirty dishes in the background

Furthermore, with so many little boxes to look at, the zoom gallery view makes it difficult to truly focus on any one person, even the speaker Such stimuli and the constant diversion of attention can be taxing on the brain

So does the lack of nonverbal cues like body language When you are talking directly to someone, you are picking up things like their posture, body language, and breathing sounds When such cues are absent or difficult to discern, our brains have to work harder to communicate

Andrew Franklin, assistant professor of cyberpsychology at Norfolk State University in Virginia, told NatGeo, "For people who rely on non-verbal cues, the lack of them can be a huge loss"

And then there are the social activities added to the business and school zoom sessions There are happy hours with Quarantini, trivia nights, birthday parties, and even Zoom karaoke Some people even broadcast their weddings on Zoom

In the Before Times, even the most extroverted social butterfly could easily decline an invitation, saying they had other plans Introverts could insist on a quiet night at home But not anymore It is normal to spend a quiet evening at home

"You can't just say you have other plans," Jaya Saxena, a staff writer at Eater, told MIT Technology Review The only excuse is that we don't want to, and nobody wants to hear that right now"

And when showing up to a Zoom social event, it can be hard to figure out what the etiquette is: is it okay to show up for five minutes and then leave? Do we need to update everyone (even strangers) on what we are up to? Do I need to ask how they are doing?

Mitch Adams, who works for a beer importer, told the WSJ "

Still, until the quarantine is lifted, many of us will stay home and continue to work and socialize using Zoom and other video conferencing software However, there are ways to alleviate Zoom fatigue Here are some recommendations:

Limit video calls to only what is necessary: Talk to your manager or colleagues to see if collaboration and discussion can be moved to email or cloud documents

Turn off the camera for some video calls - Talk on the phone

Step away from the screen between virtual meetings do five minutes of housework Go outside for some fresh air

Create clear boundaries between your work and living spaces: Use this as a cue for your brain to relax after a day's work

Say "No thanks" or "Another time" No need to feel guilty Your friends and family will understand if you need to take a break from video calling Conversely, they will understand if someone skips a Zoom call you are hosting